Peace of paramount importance for region

India and Pakistan announced on Saturday that they had agreed to a ceasefire, with immediate effect, following four days of military strikes on each other.

The ceasefire serves to prevent further escalation of the conflict between the two archrivals in South Asia, that was started by India launching air strikes on Pakistani targets on Wednesday to avenge the killing of 26 people by terrorists in Pahalgam, Indian-controlled Kashmir, last month.

Tremendous amounts of diplomatic efforts, including by China, Saudi Arabia and Turkiye, helped broker the truce. Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi had telephone conversations respectively with Indian National Security Advisor Ajit Doval and Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammad Ishaq Dar on Saturday.

Given the important role China plays in the region, particularly its close relations with Pakistan, which quickly gained the upper hand in the conflict after India's first wave of attacks, it is fair to say Beijing played a key role in helping to calm the situation.

As Wang told Doval, with the world undergoing both transformation and upheaval, the hard-won peace and stability in Asia should be cherished.

Considering the heavy price they have paid, separately and jointly, for the peace and stability of the region, it should be a consensus of India and Pakistan that it would be foolish to allow the conflict triggered by a terrorist attack to escalate into a full-blown war.

India's suffering from the Pahalgam attacks and New Delhi's domestic pressure are both understandable. China is also a victim of terrorist attacks in the region with its engineers and workers working for local projects being targeted. That's why Beijing has strongly condemned the terrorist attacks in Pahalgam and reiterated its staunch opposition to terrorism in any form.

Terrorism is a common enemy of humanity and a challenge to the world, including the countries and regions where the terrorists come from. It thus entails solidarity, cooperation and mutual assistance to fight terrorism by eliminating not only the terrorists but also the space and conditions that allow terrorism to take root in a region, for instance, by addressing poverty and the widening development gaps.

A war will not resolve the terrorism issue. China supports Pakistan in safeguarding its national sovereignty, while expressing confidence that Pakistan will respond to the current situation calmly, and make decisions in line with its long-term interests.

It is thus heartening to see that New Delhi has come back to its senses. With both sides accusing the other of ceasefire violations, it is important that India and Pakistan now work together to bring the resolution of the issue to the right track of dialogue and consultation, which meets the common aspiration of the international community.

Wang has emphasized China's support for the ceasefire and stressed the need for both sides to adhere to it to prevent further conflict, according to readouts from China's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

The ceasefire halts the worst fighting in decades between the nuclear-armed neighbors, and both New Delhi and Islamabad know it's in neither India's nor Pakistan's interest for the conflict to continue, so it is to be hoped that constructive diplomacy will enable the two sides to appease public ire and draw a line under their current frictions.

Moving on from that, the two sides should look to seize the opportunity of talks to try and work toward resolving their long-standing differences, to prevent conflict being sparked again in the future, as there is no guarantee that the sparks of animosity will not create an inferno if they erupt again.